Me? The Qin Family Ancestor?

Flying Bird City was bustling with traffic.

On the way back, Shen Zhou and the Three Little Ones discussed where to go next for martial training.

A Dai suggested, "Since we're not going to Flying Bird Academy, let's find a top-tier martial arts hall. That way, as long as we pay, we can all learn."

Shen Zhou nodded. "A martial arts hall works too. But there are many kinds—some specialize in fists and feet, others in weapons. What do you want to learn?"

Xi Mei immediately replied, "I want to learn the sword. Brother Zhou is amazing when he uses a sword, and my parents also used swords."

A Dai thought for a moment and said, "I want to learn the blade. Where the blade points, I charge forward without hesitation. I'll use the blade to cut through everything and sever it all!"

A Dai's gaze was resolute, his expression firm, as if he had his own goal in mind.

San Mazi, on the other hand, looked indifferent. "I'm fine with anything. Honestly, it'd be best if I didn't learn at all."

Shen Zhou and the other two immediately spoke in unison, firmly refusing. "No way. You have to learn."

San Mazi instantly wilted.

When it came to Shen Zhou's turn, the Three Little Ones all looked at him together, because they were also curious—since Big Boss Zhou was already so strong, what else did he need to learn?

Shen Zhou, however, had his own plans.

His current weakness was his physical body. Once he encountered an opponent more than seven or eight realms above the Transformation Realm, he would have to unleash power close to or exceeding the Celestial Firmament Realm. Under prolonged bursts, his body couldn't handle it.

So what he urgently needed now was to improve his physical strength. "I want to take the path of body refinement martial arts—to become a saint through the flesh. The stronger my body, the better!"

The Three Little Ones were completely baffled.

Wasn't Big Boss Zhou best with the sword? Why was he suddenly focusing on body refinement?

Then a strange image popped into their minds.

In that image, Shen Zhou had a broad waist and thick arms, with muscles so big a horse could run on them, standing tall like an iron tower. Every day, he either practiced strength by lifting ten-thousand-jin stone locks or honed his body by ramming his shoulders into mountain peaks.

Just thinking about that scene was terrifying.

As they chatted, they unknowingly returned to the inn.

The moment they stepped inside, Shen Zhou sensed something was off.

Because it was nearly noon, yet the entire inn had no guests except for the innkeeper and the waiter.

Shen Zhou exchanged glances with A Dai and the others, confusion clear in their eyes.

Just then, the innkeeper walked over with a smile and asked them, "Young guests, which one of you is Shen Zhou?"

Shen Zhou's expression shifted, and he stepped forward. "That's me."

The innkeeper added, "There's a distinguished guest waiting for you in the top-floor room upstairs. They've rented out the entire inn and instructed me to bring you up when you return. As for these young guests, the distinguished guest has prepared a lavish feast and invites them to enjoy it in their rooms."

Shen Zhou grew even more puzzled. "Distinguished guest? Who is it? I don't know any distinguished guests in Flying Bird City."

The innkeeper chuckled. "You'll know when you see them. Please."

A Dai and San Mazi looked worried and shook their heads, signaling Shen Zhou to refuse.

But since the person had already come and made such a big show of renting out the inn, dodging them this time wouldn't avoid the next. So Shen Zhou shook his head at the Three Little Ones. "It's fine. Go eat first. No one can hurt me. I'll go see what distinguished guest wants to meet me."

Thinking of Shen Zhou's strength, the Three Little Ones relaxed a little and followed the waiter back to their rooms.

As for Shen Zhou, he followed the innkeeper up to the third floor to the top-tier room.

When the door opened, Shen Zhou saw an unexpected person.

"Qin Mingyue? You're the 'distinguished guest'?" Shen Zhou was quite surprised.

Qin Mingyue, dressed in a flowing water-green wide-sleeved gown, stood quietly by the door. She looked like a green lotus rising from water, exuding an otherworldly, aloof coolness. When she saw Shen Zhou, she said calmly, "It's my family's Ancestor who wants to see you."

As Qin Mingyue gestured inward, Shen Zhou noticed that behind the tea table inside the room sat an elderly woman with silver hair, holding a green wooden staff.

The old woman appeared quite old, with deep wrinkles crisscrossing her face and some age spots at the corners of her eyes. But her eyes were very sharp, and when she smiled with them narrowed, she gave off a sense of open-minded humility.

When the old woman saw Shen Zhou, her smile was very kind. She beckoned, "You're Shen Zhou, right? Come in and sit."

Shen Zhou stared at the old woman for a long time, then glanced at Qin Mingyue twice. It seemed he had guessed the purpose of their visit. He swaggered over to the tea table, sat down, and looked at the old woman. "I get it. You're Ancestor Qin, so you've come to save face for the Qin family, haven't you?

I knew it. Aristocratic families are always such a hassle.

Beat the young one, and the older one comes out.

Beat the older one, and the ancient one comes out.

Hah... fine. Whatever you want, lay it out. I'll take it all."

Shen Zhou was already prepared to fight again, and this time, he decided he would hit the Qin family hard—otherwise, they'd think he had no temper.

But the old woman's attitude was unexpected. She looked at Shen Zhou with a smile and said, "I'm not here today to save face for the Qin family."

Shen Zhou asked suspiciously, "Then what are you here for?"

The old woman said, "I want to give you the entire Qin family and make you the family head. What do you think?"

"Huh?" Shen Zhou wondered if he was hearing things.

Beside him, Qin Mingyue also trembled, her face showing shock.

Ancestor Qin repeated, "I said, I want you to be the Qin family head. Are you willing?"

Shen Zhou heard it clearly this time. He slammed the table and stood up, speaking bluntly: "Of course I don't want to. Are you out of your mind? I just beat up so many people from the Qin family—those elders and juniors probably still hate my guts right now, and you want to make me the Qin family head? That takes some serious brain damage to come up with.

You'd better go home and take your meds. I don't have time to joke around with you."

With that, Shen Zhou turned to leave.

But Ancestor Qin spoke again, her voice calm and unruffled, yet carrying a weight that struck the ear: "I'm not joking with you. I mean it."

Shen Zhou stopped in his tracks. He turned back and stared at Ancestor Qin's expression. After a long moment with no sign of wavering, he finally asked in confusion: "Why, though? I already said before that from now on I have nothing to do with the Qin family. That means I'm letting you off. Even if you want to make amends to me on behalf of the Qin family, you don't have to hand over the whole clan, do you?"

While Qin Mingyue was still dizzily wondering why the Ancestor would do this, Ancestor Qin waved her hand, signaling the former to withdraw.

If you find this book enjoyable, to avoid losing it next time, please remember to add it to your bookshelf.

Qin Mingyue hesitated for a moment, but in the end she obeyed the Ancestor's order and left the room.

Once only Ancestor Qin and Shen Zhou remained in the room, the former spoke again, revealing a reason that left Shen Zhou dumbfounded once more: "Because... you are the Qin family's founding ancestor, the White-robed Divine King from a thousand years ago—Qin Taixuan!"

An invisible thunderclap seemed to strike.

Shen Zhou's mouth fell open at those words, and for a long time he couldn't utter a single syllable.

He had run through every possible reason, but never expected an answer like this.

The Qin family's founding ancestor?

The 'White-robed Divine King' Qin Taixuan?

Are you kidding me!

Seeing Shen Zhou's reaction, Ancestor Qin wasn't surprised. She simply explained: "When the Qin family's predecessors found the Taixuan Sword, they saw a prophecy beside the stone where it was embedded. That prophecy spread widely—I'm sure you've heard it too."

Shen Zhou gradually came back to his senses and replied blankly: "You mean 'When the Taixuan Sword emerges, the Qin family will rise again'?"

Ancestor Qin nodded: "Correct. But that prophecy isn't the original wording. The Qin family's predecessors altered it later to hide the truth. The original prophecy was: 'When the Taixuan Sword emerges, the White-robed One will be reborn!'"

Shen Zhou's pupils contracted as he heard this. "You mean..."

Ancestor Qin: "Exactly. The moment the Taixuan Sword is drawn again is the moment the White-robed Divine King's reincarnation succeeds. In other words, whoever pulls out the sealed Taixuan Sword is the reincarnated White-robed Divine King.

The Qin family's predecessors hid this line back then for fear that if the prophecy leaked, it would hinder the Taixuan Ancestor's reincarnation.

Later, this prophecy was only known to successive Qin family heads and the clan's guardians."

At this point, Ancestor Qin looked at Shen Zhou again, speaking earnestly: "Now that the Taixuan Sword has emerged, it's certain—you are the reincarnated Taixuan Ancestor."

Hearing this, Shen Zhou panicked and quickly waved his hands: "No, I'm not, I didn't..."

But Ancestor Qin would not be swayed. She knelt on both knees and bowed respectfully to Shen Zhou, saying: "Qin Fenglan, a descendant of the Qin family, pays respects to the Ancestor!"

"..." Shen Zhou's mouth fell open again.

What the hell are you doing?

I just cut ties with the Qin family, and now you slap a 'Qin family Ancestor' label on me and bind me back to your clan?

Dream on!

Besides, don't I know whether I'm 'Qin Taixuan' or not?

The reason I could pull out the Taixuan Sword is entirely because...

Unfortunately, 'Entry' was his biggest secret, and he couldn't speak of it.

But if he didn't speak, he couldn't explain why he could draw the Taixuan Sword.

Since he couldn't explain it, he'd be stuck with the identity of 'Qin Taixuan.'

A dead loop.

So annoying!

Outside the door, Qin Mingyue stood guard with a heart full of turmoil.

This morning, before coming to the inn, the Ancestor had summoned the family head, who was in seclusion, and the four great elders of the clan. They held a meeting about the Taixuan Sword's emergence and the series of events that followed.

The meeting wasn't made public and didn't last long, but after it ended, the elders had shown an attitude—they wanted to negotiate.

And the Ancestor herself would personally oversee the matter.

Qin Mingyue had thought the Ancestor would use a mix of soft and hard tactics to make Shen Zhou hand over the Taixuan Sword, or offer enough benefits to get him to join the Qin family.

But she never imagined that the 'benefit' would be giving away the entire Qin family.

Letting an outsider become the family head—if she hadn't heard it with her own ears, she would never have believed anyone would do such a thing.

Yet it had happened.

"Why would the Ancestor make such a choice? And the family head and elders didn't oppose it either."

"Is it because of the Taixuan Sword?"

"What secret does the Taixuan Sword hold?"

Qin Mingyue's brow furrowed deeply.

Creak...

Just as he was thinking this, the door suddenly opened from the inside.

Shen Zhou walked out of the room with a face like he'd eaten something sour, glancing back as he said, "Let me make this clear first—I never agreed to be the Qin family head. Don't try to force this on me. I won't take responsibility."

From inside the room, Ancestor Qin's voice drifted out faintly: "As you wish. From now on, the Qin family is yours. If you don't want to manage it, let it rot away for all I care. In the end, the loss will be yours alone..."

Shen Zhou's eyes went wide. He hadn't expected an old woman of her age to be so shameless. "You... you..."

"Oh, and one more thing... That girl Mingyue outside will follow you from now on. The Qin family never breaks its promises, and this is also her own wish..."

Shen Zhou immediately turned his shocked gaze to Qin Mingyue. "Didn't you say before that you didn't want to marry anyone? How are you suddenly willing?"

Qin Mingyue was still processing her grandaunt's words. At the question, she paused for a moment before replying simply: "I've thought it through."

Shen Zhou was left speechless. He pointed a finger at Qin Mingyue. "You... you... you're insane. All you Qins are insane!"

With that, Shen Zhou stormed off in a huff.